Commission debates mural rules and how to limit text without violating free-speech law

The Garden City Planning Commission discussed new mural rules that attempt to permit artistic murals while limiting the amount of textual messaging to avoid running afoul of free-speech protections.

Staff explained that recent court rulings limit a municipality’s ability to regulate mural content and presented a compromise: define a "message unit" (a word, number, abbreviation, symbol or initials) and restrict how many message units a mural can contain. Staff noted the approach is intended to allow artwork that may include small identifying text without reclassifying murals as commercial signs.

A commissioner urged a cautious pilot approach, suggesting the commission “start off smaller” — for example limiting murals to a low number of message units so the city can see how the rule works in practice. Commissioners also discussed whether the presence of any text should automatically make a mural a sign. Staff cautioned that content-based restrictions are vulnerable to legal challenge, reminding the commission that municipalities generally “can’t regulate the content.”

Members asked staff to return with comparative examples or renderings that show message-unit counts and relative font sizes (one suggestion was restricting message unit size to a percent of mural surface) so the commission can set a practical, legally defensible standard.

No final rule was adopted; staff will propose narrower initial message-unit thresholds and visual examples at a future meeting.